By Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News
House Democrats voted to approve a rules package for an impeachment probe of President Donald Trump on Thursday. It was the chamber’s first vote on the impeachment investigation and fell mostly along party lines.
Every voting Republican opposed the resolution. All but two voting Democrats supported it.
The Alabama delegation was predictably split along party lines, with lone Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell voting for the resolution, and Republican Reps. Bradley Byrne, Martha Roby, Mike Rogers, Robert Aderholt, Gary Palmer and Mo Brooks voting against it.
Here is what the representatives had to say about the vote.
1st District Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Mobile, voted NO:
“Since starting their impeachment scheme, Democrats have tried to manufacture a case against President Trump despite having no evidence of an impeachable offense. They’ve been playing a shameful game of political keep away in the basement of the Capitol to keep Americans in the dark. Today Democrats doubled down on their illegitimate smear job.
“This is a sad day for our country, but the facts are in our favor and cannot be hidden from the American people forever. Until then, I will not stop fighting to expose and defeat this politically motivated sham.”
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3rd District Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, voted NO:
“I am proud to stand with President Trump and fight against the Democrats’ witch hunt. This sham is nothing more than an attempted coup. Adam Schiff’s investigation is based solely on lies and leaks. They have never accepted the fact Donald Trump was elected president fair and square. House Democrats should be ashamed of themselves.”
4th District Rep. Robert Aderholt, R- Haleyville, voted NO:
“The Democrats have now made official, what they have been wanting to do since January 20, 2017. And that is try and overturn the 2016 election. Impeachment has been their only agenda since President Trump was elected, and they’ve spent the last 10 months since they took over the House trying to find a way to do so.”
“I voted no! While Congress does have the constitutional authority to impeach a President, it was meant to only be used as a response to actual crimes committed by a President. So far, in what little information the Democrats have selectively leaked, I’ve seen nothing that rises to the level of overturning an American election.
“… It’s time for Democratic leadership to accept that the Russians did not cause Hillary Clinton to lose, but that the voters simply chose Donald Trump over the prospects of granting a Clinton four more years in the White House. The American people elected us here to work for them—to negotiate deals that improve trade, drug pricing, healthcare, infrastructure and aim to fix some of the biggest issues we face as a country. It seems that Democratic leadership would rather waste more even more time and taxpayer dollars on yet another pointless investigation that does nothing to answer the problems we were elected here to fix. “
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5th District Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, voted NO:
“For years, Socialist Democrats successfully manipulated and fooled the American people with a ‘Russian Collusion Hoax’ that helped Socialists win the House of Representatives. Not to be deterred by having been caught with their hands in the cookie jar, Socialist Democrats are implementing ‘Russian Collusion Hoax 2.0’, an effort to again manipulate and fool the American people with a hyper-partisan, false, Trump impeachment narrative that, to date, is wholly lacking in evidentiary substance and legal support.
“…By trying to impeach President Trump at all costs, Socialist Democrats show their disdain for more than 60 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump in 2016. America’s Founding Fathers meant for impeachment to be reserved only for the most serious offenses. Impeachment rips apart America by ripping apart American votes. It’s a travesty that Socialist Democrats are proceeding with this impeachment despite ZERO evidence of an impeachable offense. Socialist Democrats ought to be ashamed.”
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6th District Rep. Gary Palmer, R – Birmingham, voted NO:
“This resolution has finally come after many weeks of an already defunct process, a clear attempt to save political face. Nothing in this impeachment inquiry thus far has met the threshold required for the serious charge of impeachment. The Constitution says a president may be impeached for ‘treason, bribery, or high crimes and misdemeanors.’ The investigation into President Trump has been centered around a phone call with President Zelensky of Ukraine, but the call transcript, which I have read, and Zelensky himself have both confirmed that President Trump has not committed a crime or abused his power. Zelensky has said that President Trump did not bribe or insist on any quid pro quo.
“Aside from clear lack of evidence, the buildup to this point is so flawed that justice has been made virtually impossible. Democrats have held meetings in secret, have withheld transcripts of witness testimonies and have leaked only the evidence that fits their narrative. They have done their best to construct a biased picture of the president in view of unseating him, regardless of the actual facts. And now they ask the American people to trust them to be fair for holding an official vote, something they should have done weeks ago. At this point, no vote can cure the injury inflicted upon the reputation of the Congress by this Democrat conceived and executed conspiracy against President Trump. We must acknowledge the process for what it is, an unjust and partisan attempt to remove a duly elected president by going against precedent, due process and justice.”
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7th District Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Selma, voted YES:
“From the outset, the Intelligence Committee has been committed to following the facts surrounding President Trump’s phone call with the President of Ukraine in which, by his own admission, Trump asked a foreign leader to initiate an investigation into a political rival. Today’s vote reinforces our commitment to holding the President to account for what increasingly appears to be an extreme abuse of his presidential power,” Sewell said. “The committee has collected extensive evidence and testimony, and remains committed to pressing forward to expose the truth to the American people.”
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2nd District Rep. Martha Roby’s office had not responded to an email requesting comment as of press time.